Modality is the language user’s attitude towards the world. It is related to things such as certainty, possibility, willingness, obligation, necessity and ability.
The form ‘will just have to‘ is listed at C1 in the English Vocabulary Profile. A search in iWeb: 1 WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT 1279 2 WILL JUST HAVE TO GET 252 3 WILL JUST HAVE TO SEE 246 4 WILL JUST HAVE TO KEEP 223 5 WILL JUST HAVE TO MAKE 199 6 …
At A1 in the category of MODALITY, there are two points: affirmative question form. ‘can’ to make a request. and in the category of QUESTIONS: a limited range of modal verbs + subject + main verb to form ‘yes/no’ *because these points clash with higher levels, the main difference to note is that all the …
A1 point 1 in the category of CLAUSES is defined: affirmative declarative clauses with modal verbs. The English Grammar Profile examples include: ‘can’ and ‘will’. Future simple modality is also covered here. Here are STUDENT EXAMPLES: A lot of farmers can read and write, but they didn’t complete high school. PELIC Chinese female level 3 writing class. I will go to New York on Thanksgiving day. Korean female level …
In the English Vocabulary Profile at B2, ‘bear’ is defined: accept someone or something unpleasant For example: I can’t bear to see him like this. listen *There are other uses of ‘bear’ that are more advanced. However, the sense defined above has a distinct grammar pattern: (CAN | COULD) (often negative) + bear + (to-infinitive | Verb-ing | noun phrase) Verb-ing …
Here are the most common examples with explanations of ‘would you mind‘: Would you mind if I took your picture? Listen to the pronunciation Point 83 at B1 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: ‘would’ to make polite requests, often in the fixed expression ‘would you mind’ ‘Would you mind’ is also B1 in the EVP and in the …
Usually, must is a modal verb. You must see this movie. You must see the difference. (see can mean understand/notice) However, ‘must’ can be a noun. It’s a must. = This is a thing that you must do. There are new combinations: As an adjective: It’s a must-see movie. = It’s a movie that you …
Here we explain the differences between may be and maybe ‘maybe‘ is usually an adverb that means ‘perhaps’ or ‘possibly’. ‘may‘ is usually a modal auxiliary verb with many uses related to ‘possibility’, ‘permission’ etc. He is in Vietnam. (sure.) He may be in Vietnam. (50% sure.) Maybe, he is in Vietnam. (50% sure.) ‘be’ …
If you want to make an unenthusiastic suggestion or say you are not enjoying, interested in, or approving of something, then you can use this grammar structure with ‘may as well‘ or ‘might as well‘. Here are some examples. The first is a student speaking test example: You might as well just open the door to an unknown person. TLC female Mexico B2 Expert …
Student example in a speaking test: I don’t think that they pay enough attention towards the national customs as they used to do those days. TLC female Sri Lanka B2 Point 236 in the category of MODALITY is defined: ‘as’ + pronoun + ‘used to’ to add background to a narrative, often to highlight something unusual A search in iWeb for: as_C _P used_V _TO _VV 1 AS …
Let’s look at some examples of ‘would’ + a wide range of adverbs: They would eventually become the oppressive hand of the Russian government. (Listen) What would normally take him maybe a day or something to solder by hand, he can do in a few minutes using this machine. (Listen) Point 234 in the category of MODALITY is defined: wide range of adverbs with ‘would’, including ‘undoubtedly’, ‘possibly’, ‘normally’, ‘personally’, ‘eventually’, ‘obviously’, ‘significantly’, …
Here’s a student example in a speaking test of ‘BE + adjective + not + to-infinitive‘ to give emphasis: When you walk, you should be careful not to disturb them because they are all below you. TLC male Sri Lanka B1 *We can also write: You should be careful that you do not disturb them… Point 230 in the category of MODALITY is defined as: ‘BE’ + ADJECTIVE + ‘NOT’ …
‘be careful not to disturb them’ (adjective + ‘NOT TO’ + infinitive) Read More »
The following rare student writing example shows how ‘used not to’ expresses modality: Also when I was younger, I used not to be allowed to drink coffee. PELIC Korean female level 3 grammar class. It sounds more natural to say: “I didn’t use to be allowed to drink coffee.” *In other words, she did not have permission to drink coffee. Although now she is an adult and can. Point 227 …
Here’s an expert example of using a conditional clause + ‘shall’ clause to express modality: Come on, if we don’t share a similar social consciousness, how shall we discuss social problems? Listen to this sentence. C2 point 225 in the category of MODALITY is defined: ‘shall’ in the main clause after an ‘if-‘ clause conditionals Long open queries are impossible on iWeb, so here we first look for the …
When you ‘listen’ to someone speaking in a conversation, you can respond with short phrases that add to the conversation. These utterances carry information and sometimes a single word like an adverb is all you might say. C2 point 224 in the category of MODALITY/adverbs is defined: adverbs expressing certainty as short responses Here is …
Although gerunds are covered in a few different ways across a few CEFR levels in the English Grammar Profile, there is no entry given to the use of a gerund after ‘need’ as MODALITY which is listed by PEARSON: GSE 63 B2 ‘need’ with verbs in the gerund to express necessity. ‘need’ + Verb Phrase …
Here we look at examples of using ‘the past tense’ in a way that is not referring to past time. In these EXPERT EXAMPLES: It’s time we started to think about the environment and a little bit less about money. Isle of Man Newspapers As an environmentalist, we would rather that didn’t happen. TED ‘the past tense’ expresses a wish that is distanced from the real situation. In reality, they are not thinking …
‘would rather’ | ‘it’s time’ + PAST TENSE CLAUSE Read More »
This is an example of modality in a question:
NEED I GO ON?
It could be asked with the meaning: I don’t need to keep talking about this.
Here’s an example of past modality:
You HAD TO HAVE KNOWN about the problem before you started driving.
Before the car broke down on the highway, I am sure you noticed something was wrong with the car.
The construction ‘try as * might,’ means that someone is trying very hard, but they still cannot do it. In the English Grammar Profile, point 219 in the category of MODALITY is defined: ‘try as I might’ for emphasis at the beginning of a sentence. An iWeb search for . Try as * _VM 1 …
NOT ONLY MUST people go to the event, but they must also be respectful there.
NEVER MUST they forget what the soldiers died for.
You must not ask about it when we are there. NOR MUST I be expected to explain it.
